


Ups and Downs

by fujoshi_girl



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-24
Updated: 2013-06-24
Packaged: 2017-12-16 00:55:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/855920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fujoshi_girl/pseuds/fujoshi_girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It all started the night Kirk arrived at Nyota's door holding a bottle of liquor from the Amerind home world to help her sort out the aftermath of her public breakup with a Andorian.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ups and Downs

**Author's Note:**

> Can you picture Jim smuggling in something to cheer Uhura up after a break-up? Spock, Scotty, that Andorian from Outer Vega that she swore left and right was a "one”-time thing. Come on, there are SO many directions you could take that! The inside jokes he shares with her in a different series of languages during an extremely boring vid conference with a series of individuals from the Admiralty. Also, you could dive into the reasons why Kirk still calls Nyota "Uhura" or how while in Star Trek OTS they shared what was a groundbreaking kiss (Historically Speaking in terms of T.V.)
> 
> Shout out to wonker8! Your comments have been priceless. Supernova is still ongoing, I know. But, this draft finally demanded to be completed with the Bones group took over the kitchen!

 

 

The first time Uhura had ever heard about the USS Enterprise NCC-1701, had been 6 months before she had enlisted. It probably had been the driving force behind her desire to submit her application.

 

Her mother, a Star Fleet translator, had been part of a diplomatic party sent to the Tellar Prime. It was there she helped translated on behalf of Admiral Archer, for materials needed to help implement a new design of warp technology.  As a teen, she could remember her mother’s excitement as she had spoken about the thrilling nature of being a linguist under the command of Archer during his transition into the Admiralty.

 

Thus, when the time came to pick a track at the Academy, Linguistics came as a natural choice. Due to her upbringing and intellect, she soon found her niche amongst her peers and studies.

 

What her background hadn’t prepared her for was the fateful meeting of a certain Iowa male in a bar located on the outskirts of Riverside.  The bar was rather out of the way from the shipyards, which was where the skeleton of the USS Enterprise was cradled. But, all the cadets knew if you wanted to have a good time that was where to kill the hours before heading back to the Academy.

 

The son of George Kirk was nothing like what she had expected. Her mother had once described his father as being one of the most attractive men in the Fleet and had she not already been settling down with her father, she would have perused him. A man with a smile like a sunrise and a smirk that made many impatient for it to get dark, her mother had said. But, what Uhura discovered that night was that Jim Kirk might have inherited his father’s good looks; he was quickly getting on the fast track of becoming the most exasperating male of her casual acquaintances.

 

* * *

 

It would turn out much later that while Kirk did drive her a little crazy most of the time, she could create chaos with the best of them. Now, currently well into the Enterprise's 5 year mission, she was starting to feel as if their tally was just about tied. 

 

It wasn’t everyday when a woman could find herself at the center of a karmic shit storm. Certainly, not when the storm is the kind size that involves two Federation planets and some of the heaviest hitters of Starfleet’s Admiralty. 

 

Uhura wasn’t even sure how to had gotten from the transporter room back to her quarters. Numb, that is what people called this condition.  Images flashed through her mind of how only a week ago, she had been happily preparing for the Trade talks with vigor. There were to be several major cultural events planned for the Enterprise to participate in. A tit-a-tat variety, with the Federation’s Flagship to act as their cultural attaché to help introduce a united front leading into the negotiations. Which meant putting a good foot forward. Roughly translated, it meant as CCO transformed into multiple daily attempts to remind her wayward Captain of all the things he could say or do wrong. Earth wasn’t the only culture the Enterprise needed their Captain to be fluent in. The man drove her crazy.

 

So, while during her failing attempt to decompress after the shit hit the fan when a familiar but unwelcomed chirp called from the door to her quarters, Uhura refrained from rolling her eyes.  The room had been her sanctum from news of the disaster that by now was surely spreading like wildfire via the Enterprise gossip network.

 

“ _What kind of Communications Officer forgets to communicate to her own door that she was unavailable_?”  

 

As she neared the door, her steps slowed at the thought of what if Carol hadn’t gotten her message via PADD about needing to call off their Girls’ Night. Carol was a hard sell when it came to canceling those nights after that whole ‘Bio-bed Tango’ episode with that grouch CMO.

 

Yet, tonight she didn’t need commiserating about the opposite sex and female empowerment. No, tonight she was simply Nyota, whose life seemed to have spiraled out of control and needed time to allow for her to catch her bearings again.

 

Schooling her face to show disinterest rather than stress she had been feeling since before shift change, she punched the door lock.

 

What greeted her was not a disgruntled Carol but instead her Captain.

 

Uhura felt her stomach drop and her lips tighten into a frown.  Leave it to Kirk to deliver any news from the Admiralty in person. Turning, she made her way back into her quarters. Kirk trailed behind her not long after a hiss could be heard of the door closed behind him.

 

“I should have known you’d come to deliver the NJP in person; or have the Admiralty finally forced an inquest?” she stated in a low tone. When no answer came, she pivoted to absorb the stature of a most singular man ever to provoke her temper.

 

Which was saying something, having been a human female with a track record that included the only Vulcan-Human hybrid serving active duty.

 

What greeted her was nothing but a lift of his gold clad shoulders and a movement to receive the object that he had carried behind his waist. As the item held in his hands immerged from its hiding place and found its way to her desk, she looked from it to Kirk’s face. Then, as if drawn back, her eyes traveled back down to study the bottle’s design.

 

A series of interesting markings covered the glass and the label bore a language unfamiliar to her eyes.  Her previous thoughts about why Kirk was standing in her quarters fled when a sudden spark of recognition filled her eyes as the label’s working clicked in her head and her astonishment had her searching for confirmation in Kirk’s countenance.

 

“Amerind wine?” she whispered breathlessly. “What? How? I thought bottles of this liquor was outlawed to be sold off-world!”

 

Kirk’s smile was that of a little boy caught by his tutor for successfully passing an exam by using an illegally modified study guide.

 

“I pulled in a few favors. Though, I’ll admit that the true stash is tucked away with Bones.  Yet, we both agreed that breaking out a bottle for you was well-deserved.”

 

Uhura chose to sit down in one of the more comfortable seats. A tired expression crossed her beautiful features. When she looked up from her sudden solemn contemplations, she discovered that Kirk had moved closer to kneel down before her feet.

 

“You couldn’t have known, _Nyota_ ”

 

Uhura looked up then, tempted to retort with her opinion of Kirk using her given name. Yet, when she saw Kirk’s expression what little part of her rant died on her lips.

 

“You might not believe me or perhaps you only subscribed to the gossips of the Academy who told tales of my wild-dalliances,” Kirk’s voice too a lower pitch. “But, I know what it is like to feel like you’ve been used by someone.”

 

“I just feel stupid. First Spock, then Scotty. Bad enough that those relationships tanked with men like them. What does it say about me to have walked into the arms of that Ass? It hurts that I could fall for someone that egotistical. Maniacal.” She promptly code-switched, seemly unknowingly, into a barrage of mixed expletives that would have made the entire faulty of the Academy’s Linguistics Department either blush or reach of their PADDs to search the reference.

 

Kirk took on a comical expression and waited for her tirade to fizzle out before straightening up from his crouched position to collect some glasses and replicated ice. Returning to a near by chair, he unfolded his frame in a manner similar to a jungle cat settling into the niche of a tree. She wouldn’t have been a fully appreciative woman if she didn’t honestly watch. Unprofessionalism seemed mute at this point too if this political whirling dervish turned into anymore of a fiasco, Nyota wouldn’t have to worry about Sexual Harassment charges. Even though she knew Kirk would consider it high praise and go to the mattresses for her if need be.

 

He might be the closest individual she had in her life who could completely fill her definition of her own personal cohort. It was a relationship that they were always riding the fence on issues like where to draw the lines, if any.

 

“I know it might not seem like that at this moment and I’m sure you aren’t going to believe whatever I might tell you now anyhow. Merely on principals, I’d bet.” Kirk reached over to snag the bottle and open it up.

 

He was silent for a moment while he poured two fingers full for her and then for himself. The light refracted through the ice and liquid in a glint of fire. A promise.

 

“This Ass, as you so aptly put it, doesn’t realize the hornets’ nest he has stirred up in that little stunt he pulled down there. Not only does he think he can play the system and win, he’s stupid enough to think he can do it bluffing.”

 

Nyota wanted to shake her head and deny that the cards the bastard appeared to be holding were not just good enough to tank her career but several of her superiors’ as well. Yet, she knew having played cards with the senior Crew of the Enterprise, Kirk could have made a living just using his skills alone. Familiar with nearly every style of game, no matter the planetary system, she had learned the hard way that Kirk’s history made him deadly with a deck of cards. If he was already thinking that way, maybe they stood a chance against the fallout.

 

“I just cannot believe I was so utterly blind,” her voice sounded dry and brittle in her own ears.

 

Silence stretched out for a moment while they both nursed their drinks.

 

“I must admit, given our past and my less than stellar introduction, I’m secretly crushed that I managed to get the brush off while he has the balls to call you by your first name. That is if he has balls. Does he?”

 

Nyota snorted into her glass as she was in the midst of taking a swallow. It hadn’t occurred to her that Kirk would have had that opinion, but somehow looking back on it all now made sense how her actions would lead him in that direction. Thankfully, he still could be eloquent while delivering that little kernel of truth. The laughter helped mask the hurt, if any.

 

“McCoy might know. Frankly, I don’t want to spend anymore time attempting to relive that particular mental picture.”

 

Kirk’s blue eyes flashed.

 

“What are we going to do?” Her voice seemed to gain a bit of its iron strength back.

 

Kirk took a long, evaluating look at her and then nursed his drink in-between his hands as he leaned forward. His shoulders’ had the build that came from years of swimming, he had confessed once to her. She had once discovered his private love for the water during an away mission. Watching him perform lap after lap of butterfly in his routine now made those shoulders make sense. Sometimes she had wondered if he had been modeling his training to mimic Atlas, so he could carry the weight of the Enterprise on his shoulders. Those long arms and strong hands had done him service. More than once saving her own hide when it came to the end.

 

“I think perhaps we should start with getting you into the shower,” then didn’t miss a beat when a cushion went slinging towards him. Casually, he bats it aside. They trade faces like they are 12 years old.

 

“No, seriously. I think you need time to recover from the Shock. If that means getting the slime of that creep’s vitriol off you, figuratively speaking, then I want you to do whatever it is that you do. I’m going to Comm Bones and tell him I want him to swing by later to check-in on you. Then, while you’re still busy, I’ll bring you some food. I won’t eat with you if you don’t feel like having company but I want you to eat and then sleep. Bones will help with that. Even if in the end, all he does is giving you a goodnight bedtime story and a tuck into the sheets.”

 

Uhura felt like her chest was going to burst. Kirk always somehow instinctively knew those moments were allowing McCoy to indulge in his parenting skills helped her let go of that part of her what was terrified. That even as a fully capable adult, there was an aspect of her that missed her mother in these moments. Enabling her to experience the moments of sharing the bond between parent and child. Kirk wasn’t able to fulfill that role for her. They both knew and forgave, because while he might lack in that area he made up for it in other ways.

 

Like knowing that McCoy also sometimes would need a neutral party to help him cope with the distance between visits with Joanna. That the simple routine of ‘bedtime’, while a childish indulgence on her part, provided their CMO with his own personal brand of Kirk-inspired therapy. After the first couple of times they had performed it, it later became a classic way to wind-down from intense situations.

 

Today definitely called for it.

 

“If you’re lucky, I might even convince Bones to whip you up dinner rather than me heading to the Mess.”

 

Uhura’s eyes rolled shut in a visual image of possible dinner options. Their Southern man and his cooking could make her go weak in the knees every time. That and Kirk’s tastes in alcohol, they would spoil her into an early grave.

 

“Some of his Trifle?”

 

Kirk smirked and her stomach did a flutter all on its own. It wasn’t anything too sexual about it but it did make she wonder for yet the millionth time.

 

“I’ll even give you my code for my water ration this month.”

 

“Sold!”

 

Giving a gentle snort and shaking his head, Kirk reached out to grasp her empty glass and set it in the table next to his own.

 

“Come on, Legs.” He reached down to help collect her out of her chair. “Let’s get you cleaned up and sorted. Bones’s Peach Trifle waits for no one.”

 

She let her Captain guide her over to the refresher and watched as he keyed in his code. Starting the shower and allowing for the water to run as achieve the desired temperature, he then politely beat feet out of her bathing area. Like a good friend that he was, he fusses appropriately when it came to getting her started. No real skin. Goofy faces swapped back and forth before he leaves he to it.

 

“I’ll go grab that food now. Take your time. Just know if Bones does cook, it might take him a while. If I am not back by the time you get out, open that gift I gave you last shore leave that I know you haven’t opened yet. If anyone deserves it, it’s you.”

 

He narrowly missed the towel she flung at the wall by the door in mock anger. Chuckling at her outrage, he turned and left.

 

Shaking her head at Kirk’s antics, she had began stripping as she closed the door and stepped into her miniature Oasis. Real water. Oh, how she had missed this.

 

What felt like hours under the heavy pelting of luscious heat and steam, turned out to be just enough time for she to dry off and dress before Jim carried in a tray laden with food.

 

“You lucked out! Bones cleared his evening to talk to Joanna but missed it due to a fieldtrip to the Atlanta Aquarium. Said to send his regards and that he’ll be by in maybe an hour.”

 

Uhura squirmed onto a chair at the table, eyeing the tray as Kirk made a show of setting it down. He slipped into a chair opposite from hers. McCoy had outdone himself. All of it was pretty much stuff she knew would react like Pavlov’s Dog. A bowl full of home-style Grits, McCoy’s special recipe of Greens, a glass of Sweet Tea, and a beautifully messy Trifle. Taking up her spoon, she tasted the Grits first.

 

Hot and delicious, she attempted not to orgasm. How had the man learned to perfect something simple?

 

“It’s the meat. He learned how to cure pork while we were at the Academy. One of those classes we signed up for while shopping at the Ferry Building.”

 

How had Kirk known that was what she had been thinking, she couldn’t be sure but then again did it really matter?

 

“So even if we can’t get pork or beef aboard all the time, he can still make anything from anywhere taste just like home. He can even make Tofu seem like Pork.” Kirk gave a chuckle.

 

“What?” Uhura gave him a look as she replaced her spoon for her fork to lift up a bit of her greens.

 

“You’re just lucky that special shipment we got last starbase was pork is all.”

 

Her lips twisted into a frown as she eyed her bacon and green covered fork.

 

“So no mystery meat?”

 

Kirk cocked an eyebrow while his lips twitched.

 

“You don’t have to worry on that front. Bones makes it a rule never to cure anything he wouldn’t deem edible with that refined palate of his. He likes to know what he’s eating.”

 

“Pig! You nearly made me loose my appetite.”

 

Laughter broke out after a beat, when the two of them had looked at each other and couldn’t agree more.

 

“Sorry, bad taste.”

 

She groaned at the terrible joke.

 

“Now you see why, though. Bones I think might need tonight as much as you do. He didn’t even blink when I asked. Just checked out with the duty Nurse and headed for the Mess. Any time he has a bad day, cooking helps him zone out. Like the shower?”

 

“I wanted to stay longer but I didn’t want to deprive you of time. I know you save it up for around shore leave.”

 

Many a shore leave, she had watched as her Captain would get antsy waiting to learn if he would have access to his swim regime or not. On the occasions where there would be no access, he’d stockpile his water rations to cushion the blow. Kirk did have his quirks, but that was what made him so likeable; despite all the male bravado in the beginning.

 

“You needed it more than me,” Kirk nicked her spoon to scoop up some grits. At her growl, he just licked the spoon more. “You pick out your bedtime story yet?”

 

“I’m leaning towards The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland.”

 

“Good choice. Bones has the voice for that, so deep and rich. Ask him to do the different voices. Drives him nuts but you stand a better chance of getting him to do it than I do. Plus, he’s in the mood to pamper you tonight.”

 

“You get him to read in different characters? How?”

 

Kirk shrugged.

 

“I don’t know. I just asked once and now I think I go out of my way to collect books I know in my head I might be able to get him to read aloud.”

 

“Okay, I’ll try.” She caught up the spoon quickly before Kirk could reach for it again and tucked into her Grits with furor.

 

“You do know Spock hates that novel, right?”

 

She nodded and took a swallow of Sweet Tea from the glass on the tray before debating between switching to a forkful of McCoy’s special Greens or just digging into the famous Trifle that had once won their CMO a blue ribbon at the Georgia State Fair. In the end, the Trifle won and she moaned over a mouthful.

 

“He would always complain about how _illogical_ it was to read about talking rabbits and philosophical caterpillars. Drove him crazy whenever I picked reading it over anything else.”

 

Kirk grinned and cocked an eyebrow.

 

“You wicked woman, you. Bet the Cheshire Cat ruffled his Vulcan feathers?”

 

Uhura turned and gave him a wink as she licked her spoon. She was in heaven. McCoy had skipped on the almonds due to her allergy and used real cream.

 

“Maybe just a little.”

 

Kirk crowed with laughter and his eyes turned such an intense blue, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to breath. Her friend was breathtaking when he laughed.

 

With that, he stood and tugged his forelock in boyish gesture of playfulness as he bowed. Then, as if conceding defeat, winked back at her and departed for Sickbay.

 

* * *

 

Twenty minutes later, when McCoy showed up in her quarter’s with the said leather bound novel by Lewis Carroll and a wicked grin on his face, her laughter could be heard cabins away.

 

 

TBC

 

 

I apologize in advance. I'm without a BETA so this is just me and my spellcheck. Whatever is missed is missed. I'll do more corrections later. Just thought you guys might like to see the other types of stories I have on the back burner!


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